Lunchtime Workouts: How to Fit Fitness into Your Lunch Hour

These three calorie-blasting workouts are perfect for when you’re time constrained.

By: Madeline Glasser

Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or a busy career woman, there’s no doubt you’re dealing with a full schedule and limited extra time. All put together, it can make fitting in a workout much more challenging! Luckily, you don’t need to spend hours in the gym to start seeing some results. There are plenty of exercises you can do in the comfort of your own home (or office!) requiring no additional equipment. Depending on your mood and amount of time available, you can choose from a variety of intensities so you get your workout in each day. As always, consult your doctor before starting any exercise regimen to make sure everything checks out.

1. Tabata CardioTabatas are a short and effective way to torch some calories in little to no time. A single tabata consists of eight rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for a total of four minutes. You can do them with cardio exercises or strength training exercises to maximize your workout.

Some exercises you can use in your tabatas are: high knees, bum kicks, jumping jacks, burpees, push-ups and squats. Tabatas are high intensity and will leave you breathless and sweaty, so be sure to prepare accordingly!

2. Body-weight Strength TrainingYou can get in a killer workout just by using your own body weight. There are a number of ways to create a body-weight workout. One of the easiest is to create an exercise circuit where you do a set number of repetitions for one exercise before moving on to the next in the circuit.

Once you get through the entire circuit, you can repeat the whole thing two or three times depending on how many minutes you have.

3. Yoga in the Living RoomIf you’re needing to get in a relaxing workout to help you stretch and de-stress, yoga is the way to go. You can do a simple Sun Salutation series to get your body moving and strengthen your muscles. There are a number of websites online offering yoga workouts of varying lengths streamed directly to your computer for free.

Other Ways to Sneak in Exercise:Sometimes an actual workout just isn’t in the cards for the day. If that happens, you can make the choice to fit in some additional movement wherever you are: take the stairs at work instead of the elevator, park as far away from the entrance as possible, trade out your office chair for an exercise ball so you’re engaging your core throughout the day. At home, you can make fitness into a game with your kids by letting them count how many squats you do.

And don’t be worried about your post-workout look, either! There are plenty of ways to rock a casual hairstyle after you exercise and get a quick, polished look in no time, too.

No matter how pressed for time you are, you can fit in a solid workout in 15-30 minutes and finish feeling better and stronger than when you started. Now get out there!

Madeline is the author of the Food, Fitness, and Family blog where she writes about yummy eats, sweaty workouts and life as a family of three — soon to be four! She is an Army wife dedicated to finding balance between kale and cake pops while raising her growing family.